As if previous encounters with the exact same problem taught us nothing, here we are once again broaching the topic of mistaken identity perpetuated by an undeniably less-than-thorough approach to facial recognition. Of course, you don't have to be a full-blown digital native to recognize the YouTube work of music criticism vlogger Anthony Fantano. Perhaps best known as simply The Needle Drop, Fantano has made quite a name for himself as one of YouTube's foremost music critics. However, in the media frenzy initiated by the recent tragedy at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, Fantano is now being mistaken by some news outlets as now-deceased gunman Chris Harper-Mercer:
At about the 1:36 mark in the clip above, Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) mistakenly used a photo of Fantano in reference to gunman Harper-Mercer. The photo, displayed on the screen as various quotes from Harper-Mercer appear, was likely lifted from one of Fantano's numerous YouTube reviews. In fact, others note that various 4chan users likely intentionally misled members of the media by repeatedly posting photos of Fantano.
"I think it says a lot about the state of journalism and its complete madness," Fantano says in an exclusive statement. Fantano is reportedly in the middle of taking some sort of action against SBS, at the very least demanding a retraction and thorough correction as to the actual identity of the Oregon shooter.
